September 17 (SeeNews) - Croatia's state-owned reconstruction and development bank HBOR said on Tuesday it has launched a joint project with three local banks to extend 500 million kuna ($75 million/68 million euro) worth of investment loans for rural development.
HBOR signed an agreement with OTP Banka Hrvatska, Privredna Banka Zagreb and Zagrebacka Banka for the project, HBOR said in a statement.
The development bank will manage the allocation of the funds, while the three commercial banks will serve as intermediaries who will accept, process and pay out the loans to the final users.
The initiative will finance rural development projects worth up to 1.0 million kuna. The the loans will be extended for a period of 15 years with a possible grace period of 3 to 5 years.
HBOR said this is the fifth financial instrument it is managing and the third one being designated to the private sector. The another two are aimed at the public sector. An overall 700 million kuna have been extended to Croatia's private and public sectors in the past year and a half since the launch of the instruments.
(1 euro = 7.39584 kuna)